L for Lanthanum

This is the 12th in the series of 26 posts this month, one post a day, barring four Sundays, each on a theme corresponding to a letter of the English alphabet. My theme this year is "Chemicals in our life", spurred by my interest in chemistry.

All the elements of the world are arranged in a tabular form called the periodic table, according to their properties. 

The rows are called periods, and the columns are called groups.

As many as 118 elements have been discovered as of now.

(The periodic table is a childhood memory for me thanks to my dad, who was a chemistry teacher. We had one stuck on a wall in the study.)

If you see the periodic table, elements with atomic numbers 57 to 71, fifteen of them, are arranged in a row below the main block.

Those 15 are called lanthanides, named after the first element in that series - lanthanum.

They all are in a separate row because they all have properties similar to the first in the series, lanthanum.

There is a similar series of 15 elements called actinides.

Lanthanum was discovered in 1839 by Carl Gustaf Mosander, who separated it from cerium oxide. 

It's a soft, ductile, and silvery-white metal that can be easily cut with a knife. 

The name lanthanum comes from the Greek word lanthanein, meaning "to lie hidden" because it was difficult to isolate from other elements.

Lanthanum is one of the most abundant rare earth elements, with an average concentration of 18 ppm in the Earth's crust. It is mainly found in minerals such as monazite and bastnasite, which are also sources of other rare earth elements.

Lanthanum has many applications in various fields, such as optics, electronics, catalysis, medicine, and energy.

- Used to make optical glass and lenses, such as camera lenses, telescopes, binoculars, and microscopes. It improves the refractive index and dispersion properties of glass.

- Used to make phosphors for fluorescent lamps, cathode ray tubes, X-ray screens, and scintillators. It emits bright green light when excited by electrons or X-rays.

- Used in medicine for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. For example, lanthanum carbonate is a drug that binds to phosphate in the gastrointestinal tract and prevents its absorption into the blood. This helps to treat hyperphosphatemia (high phosphate levels) in patients with chronic kidney disease.

- Energy-related applications, such as hydrogen storage, fuel cells, batteries, and nuclear reactors. For instance, lanthanum nickel hydride (LaNiH) is a material that can store hydrogen gas at room temperature and release it when heated. This makes it a potential alternative to fossil fuels for clean energy.

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Images from Pixabay

The information provided in this post has been obtained from multiple, authentic resources. However, it is presented in an abridged format and might not have all the details. Therefore, before acting on any information, readers are requested to exercise caution and do further research.

This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2Z 2023. I am also on A2Z April Challenge.

K for Krypton

This is the 11th in the series of 26 posts this month, one post a day, barring four Sundays, each on a theme corresponding to a letter of the English alphabet. My theme this year is "Chemicals in our life", spurred by my interest in chemistry.

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When it came to K, I didn't many choices, because there is only one element that begins with this letter. It's Krypton. 

Most of the elements that we have seen so far are quite reactive. But Krypton is one with very low reactivity, a characteristic of what are called noble gases.

The other noble gases are helium, neon, argon, xenon, and radon. These are all naturally occurring.

There is one more in this group called oganesson, but this is a synthetic chemical element, made first in 2002. Though this is classified in the noble gas group, unlike the others, this is reactive.  

Krypton is a colourless, odourless, and tasteless gas that has a whitish glow when an electric current passes through it.

It was discovered in 1898 by Sir William Ramsay, a Scottish chemist, and Morris W. Travers, a British chemist, who isolated it from the residue of liquid air.

William Ramsay won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1904 for the discovery of a series of noble gases, including krypton.

The name krypton comes from the Greek word kryptos, meaning "hidden", because it was difficult to detect this among other gases. 

It is present in trace amounts in the Earth's atmosphere, about 1.14 parts per million by volume.

Krypton has several applications in lighting and lasers. 

It is used in some fluorescent lamps, where it produces a bright white light that is more energy-efficient than conventional incandescent bulbs. 

It is also used in flash lamps for high-speed photography and in some lasers for eye surgery and research.

Krypton can form compounds with some highly reactive elements, such as fluorine and oxygen, under extreme conditions. 

These compounds are called krypton fluorides and krypton oxides, and they have potential applications in rocket propulsion and nuclear energy.

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Image from Pixabay

The information provided in this post has been obtained from multiple, authentic resources. However, it is presented in an abridged format and might not have all the details. Therefore, before acting on any information, readers are requested to exercise caution and do further research.

This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2Z 2023. I am also on A2Z April Challenge.

J for Jodium

This is the tenth in the series of 26 posts this month, one post a day, barring four Sundays, each on a theme corresponding to a letter of the English alphabet. My theme this year is "Chemicals in our life", spurred by my interest in chemistry.

Before you wonder what is jodium, it's not an English word.

I had to break the rule of this Challenge since I couldn't find a chemical element or a compound that begins with the English letter J.  

I looked at other languages, and I stumbled upon this Dutch word that begins with the alphabet J. 

Jodium means iodine, and the word is pronounced 'yodium'.

The chemical symbol of iodine is I, and its atomic number 53.

It is a non-metallic, nearly black solid at room temperature and has a glittering crystalline appearance. 

It melts to form a deep violet liquid at 114 °C (237 °F), and boils to a violet gas at 184 °C (363 °F). 

Iodine is one of six halogens. Halogen is a non-metallic element that is highly reactive. The other five are fluorine, chlorine, bromine, astatine, and tennessine.

The word halogen comes from the Greek hal- (salt) and -gen (to produce) because they all react with metals to form salts. Sodium chloride or table salt is the most common of all. 

Iodine is important for the health of the thyroid gland, which secretes a hormone also called the thyroid that regulates our metabolism. 

The iodine that we need is obtained from food like iodized salt, seafood, dairy products and some vegetables.

Iodine deficiency can cause goitre, cretinism and hypothyroidism, which are disorders that affect the thyroid gland and its functions. 

Iodine excess can also cause problems, such as hyperthyroidism, thyroiditis and iodism, which are characterized by symptoms such as nervousness, weight loss, skin rash and metallic taste.

Among the other uses of iodine are in diagnostic radiology and as a disinfectant.

Images from Britannica

The information provided in this post has been obtained from multiple, authentic resources. However, it is presented in an abridged format and might not have all the details. Therefore, before acting on any information, readers are requested to exercise caution and do further research.

This post is a part of #BlogchatterA2Z 2023. I am also on A2Z April Challenge.